By R.L. Bynum

Carolina’s search for a point guard to replace Elliot Cadeau is over as the Tar Heels have will get a Mountain West Conference star who had a big game in the NCAA tournament and is an outstanding perimeter shooter.

Kyan Evans, a 6–2 rising junior former Colorado State star announced his commitment to UNC on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday evening.

Evans is the third transfer portal commitment of the offseason for Carolina, which earlier got commitments from former West Virginia guard Jonathan Powell and former Arizona center Henri Veesaar.

Evans poured in 23 points and six 3-pointers while dishing out six assists in Colorado State’s 78–70 first-round upset victory over Memphis, then had 10 points and two 3-pointers in the Rams’ heartbreaking 72–71 second-round loss to Maryland.

Evans is one of five Division I players last season than had more than a 20 assist percentage (percentage of teammate field goals assisted on while he was on the floor), shot better than 50% from on 2-point attempts (51.0%), better than 40% from 3-point range (44.6%), better than 80% of his free-throw attempts (85.2%) and made at least 50 3-pointers.

He shot better than 53.4% from 3-point range in the last 14 games (39 of 73) and was in the 99th perentile for 3-point shooting, in the 96th percentile on catch-and-shoot 3s, the 87th percentile on assists and 92nd percentile on defensive impact.

After only averaging 8.1 minutes per game and coming off the bench in every game of his freshman season, Evans averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 assists and 1.9 turnovers in starting all 36 games for Colorado State last season. He made 44.6% of his 3-point attempts, scoring 70 3s, including multiple 3s in 21 games, at least three in 13 games, at least four in four games, and that career-high of six against Memphis.

Evans has scored in double figures in 23 career games. He’s dished out at least four assists in 16 games, at least five in 10 games, at least six in four games, at least seven in three games, with a career-high of eight in CSU’s 79–58 home win over Air Force on Jan. 28. His career-high turnover total is four, which he’s done five times, all of those last season.

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Evans’ heat map

Courtesy of @TarHeelsofNYC and via @CBBAnalytics.

Date	Time/ scores	Month/day	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV
		October	Exhibitions
9	W, 88–70	Friday	vs. No. 21 USC in Greensboro
18	L, 76–58	Sunday	vs. Indiana in Indianapolis
27	7:30	Tuesday	vs. Charlotte	ACCN Extra
		November	Regular season
2	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. Western Carolina	ACCN
6	7 p.m.	Friday	vs. Wofford	ACCN
10	7 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. Wyoming	ACCN
13	7 p.m.	Friday	vs. Georgia	ESPN2
20	9 p.m.	Friday	vs. Marshall	ACCN
23	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. Monmouth	ACCN
27	7 p.m.	Friday	Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte	ESPN
		December
1	7:30	Tuesday	ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 12 Arkansas	ESPN
6	3 p.m.	Sunday	vs. Butler	ESPN2
12	Noon	Saturday	at Georgetown	Peacock
15	7 p.m.	Tuesday	Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro	ESPN2
19	2:30	Saturday	CBS Sports Classic vs. No. 23 Kentucky in New York	CBS
21	8 p.m.	Monday	vs. The Citadel	The CW
30	4 p.m.	Wednesday	vs. California	ACCN
		January
2	4 p.m.	Saturday	at Boston College	ESPN or ESPN2
5	9 p.m.	Tuesday	at No. 11 Louisville	ESPN or ESPNU
9	Noon	Saturday	vs. N.C. State	ESPN2
13	7 p.m.	Wednesday	at Florida State	ESPN2 or ESPNU
16	2:15	Saturday	vs. Stanford	The CW
19	9 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. No. 9 Virginia	ESPN
23	Noon	Saturday	at Syracuse	ESPN or 2 or U
26	7 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. SMU	ESPN or ESPN2
30	6 or 6:30	Saturday	Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 3 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.	ESPN
		February
2	7 p.m.	Tuesday	at Notre Dame	ESPN or ESPN2
6	2:15	Saturday	vs. Georgia Tech	The CW
8	6 p.m.	Monday	vs. No. 11 Louisville	ESPN
13	5:30	Saturday	at No. 2 Duke	ABC
20	7 p.m.	Saturday	at Wake Forest	ACCN
22	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. No. 14 Miami	ESPN
27	7 p.m.	Saturday	at Virginia Tech	ESPN
		March
2	9 p.m.	Tuesday	at Pittsburgh	ESPN or ESPN2
6	6 or 6:30	Saturday	vs. No. 2 Duke	ESPN
9–13		Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament in Greensboro

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No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
25	Freshman	Maxi Adams	F	6–7	220
30	Freshman	Malloy Smith	G	6–5	180
21	Freshman	Sayon Keita (SIGH-on KAY-tuh)	C	7–0	205
5	Freshman	Kevin Thomas	W	6–6	205
35	Sophomore	Cade Bennerman — U	C	7–0	205
17	Sophomore	Neo Avdalas — W (NEE-oh ahv-DOLL-lus)	G	6–9	220
2	Sophomore	Isaiah Denis	G	6–4	185
3	Sophomore	Matt Able — X	G	6–5	200
22	Junior	Alex Samodurov (SAH-muh-DUHR-off)	C	6–11	225
1	Senior	Terrence Brown — Y	G	6–3	180
4	Senior	Jaydon Young (JAY-din)	G	6–4	200
15	Senior	Jarin Stevenson (JARE-in)	F	6–10	220
14	Graduate	Angelo Brizzi — Z (BRIZZ-ee)	G	6–3	200
54	Graduate	Cameron Fens — V (Fenz)	C	7–0	255
		Walk-ons
99	Junior	John Holbrook — SA	F	6–8	230
32	Senior	Evan Smith	G	6–1	200

V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.

Coach Michael Malone’s coaching staff — Associate head coach Chuck Martin; assistant coaches Bryan Tibaldi (tih-BALL-dee), Sean May, Jorge Sanz (HOR-hey sahnth), Pat Sullivan and Brandon Robinson; Director of player development Deon Thompson.

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Former players at other schools

Player	Class	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt	Next school
Luka Bogavac	Senior	W	6–6	215	Oklahoma State
James Brown	Senior	C	6–10	240	Howard
Derek Dixon	Sophomore	G	6–5	200	Arizona
Kyan Evans	Senior	G	6–2	175	Minnesota
Zayden High	Junior	C	6–10	230	South Florida
Jonathan Powell	Junior	G	6–6	190	Pittsburgh
Ivan Matlekovic	Junior	C	7–0	255	Pacific

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Photo via csurams.com